Dharwad: Hectic lobbying by aspirants for the posts of mayor and deputy mayor in Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation has begun with the election scheduled at 1pm on Monday.The post of mayor has been reserved for general woman category while that of deputy mayor is reserved for Backward Class-B category, as per the notification issued by the regional commissioner, Belagavi. The nominations for the two posts will be received on June 30 from 9am till 11am and polling if necessary will take place at 1pm.With the announcement of election date, speculations are rife about the choice of the candidates for the two posts. BJP is in power in HDMC and there are over a dozen aspirants. Sources in BJP said the final decision on the selection of candidates rests with Union minister and Dharwad MP Pralhad Joshi.The women corporators belonging to reserved categories are also eligible to contest as general category candidates and this provision has made the competition tough.As usual there is demand from the corporators in Dharwad to give them a chance to don the mayor’s gown as their counterparts in Hubballi have been enjoying the lion’s share in power all the while.While earlier the race for the mayoral candidature used to be between the corporators from Dharwad and Hubballi, this time it has taken a different dimension. Aspirants are demanding that a corporator from Hubballi-Dharwad East assembly constituency should be given a chance as earlier the corporators from Hubballi-Dharwad West and H-D Central assembly constituencies have been mayors.Now the question being asked in political circles is: Will the BJP leadership give another chance to a corporator from Dharwad, or will it be a first-time corporator from the Hubballi-Dharwad East constituency?While more than 10 women corporators from Hubballi are in the fray, two from Dharwad have also emerged as strong contenders. In Dharwad, Jyoti Patil and Anita Chalgeri are seen as front-runners. In contrast, the list of aspirants from Hubballi is significantly longer.“It remains to be seen whether the party will favour a newcomer or stick with its earlier pattern of electing an experienced corporator,” a corporator said. If the party decides to field a corporator from H-D East it will result in a first-timer getting a chance. Sources said it is unlikely that a fresher would be preferred.
